The Offspring Engagement
by abstractsierra
Summary: There's a wedding brewing, and everything has to go according to plan. While the happy couple plan and bask in their love, their friends and family do their best not to combust all around them. Future AU featuring canon parings with their offspring!
1. Chapter 1

A very nervous looking Sheldon Cooper stood, staring out the window of his home, eyes never leaving the street as he waited for the familiar car to come pulling into his driveway. So lost in his own thoughts, he hadn't even noticed his wife approaching him until he felt her hand on the small of his back and he looked down at her. "She isn't here yet." His statement was obvious, even to his own ears, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. Amy nodded and let her hand move from his back to rest lightly on his waist, her head finding a nice place on his shoulder once he had twisted to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Do you think she's decided not to come?"

He looked at Amy and noticed that she had paused for a moment, but she recovered quickly and shook her head. "She wouldn't do that, Sheldon. If nothing else, she loves her brother more than anything in the world. She wouldn't miss his wedding."

"But after her last visit... our last argument..." Sheldon couldn't complete his thought, and heard his wife sigh softly. When he looked at her again, it was with the sad smile she had come to recognize over the years. The one that told him all he needed to know. "She's not going to be happy when she gets here."

He watched as Amy's face twisted a bit, the sadness in her smile melting away, giving way to mirth, a small twinkle behind her bright green eyes. "Well, Sheldon, she is _your_ daughter."

Sheldon let out a soft scoff and rolled his eyes. "Our daughter, much more your daughter, most days."

After they spent a moment looking at one another, Amy leaned up to kiss Sheldon on the cheek, a gesture that he welcomed for comfort. When he looked at her again, the mirth had melted away, and the tinge of sadness colored her smile again. "Try not to give her too hard a time, Charles will be furious if the two of you ruin his wedding with your incessant bickering."

Sheldon glared down at her for a moment, a reply already forming and trying to push past his lips, but he knew better than to argue with his wife. Especially when it came to the subject of their daughter. "Perhaps we should just go wait for her in the den. She might not come straight here, after all. I don't know why she insisted on staying at a motel when her old room here is perfectly fine."

Amy just shrugged a bit and nodded, knowing full well why their daughter had chosen a hotel room over her childhood bedroom. Marie would much rather stay in a roach infested motel than spend a week under the same roof as her father.

* * *

Letting out a soft sigh, Marie pulled her car into the driveway, eyes immediately darting to the window. She saw the curtain flutter a bit, and was sure that meant that her father was waiting just on the other side of the door, probably with a lecture about her tardiness. Steeling herself for a moment, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small orange bottle, shaking a pill out into her hand and swallowing it dry before tossing the bottle away again. She wanted to curse her brother for deciding to get married. After all, not only was he getting married, he was getting married to Irina Koothrappali. It meant that everyone from her parents social circle would be occupying her space for the next week. She could abide some of them, The Hofstadter clan most of all, but spending extended periods of time around Haley Wolowitz and her perfect husband would push Marie's patience like none other.

A resolved sigh caused her to realize that she was lingering too long in the car, but before she could even finish unbuckling her seatbelt, she heard her passenger door open and looked over in time to see Michael Hofstadter sliding into the passenger seat of her car. He shot her a crooked smile, reaching up to adjust his glasses on his face before reclining back in the seat comfortably. "I was starting to think you were bailing on us, Ree."

Marie rolled her eyes a bit, twisting so that her legs were up in the seat and her body was turned to face him. She supposed that she could wait just a little while longer to go in and see her family. "Were you just waiting for me to pull up, Hof? You know that's a bit on the stalker side, right?"

Marie watched as Michael rolled his eyes before leaning over to pat her leg condescendingly. "Unfortunately for you, Ree, I just happened to get back when I saw you sitting in your car staring into space. Your dad has been wearing a hole in the floor waiting for you to get here, you know. You're three days late and the best you could send was an email? To Charles?"

It was Marie's turn to roll her eyes with a small shrug. "I was covering for a coworker last minute when they got sick, and it's a bit of a drive from New York to California. I left six hours later than I thought I would and made the trip by myself. It would have been a death sentence to try and get here any faster." She watched as Michael lifted his hands in surrender before leaning over to pat her leg again.

"He missed you, is all. We all did." Michael's sincere tone caught Marie off guard, and she shook it off quickly before leaning down to grab her bag from under his feet. She didn't exactly want to think about anyone missing her. She felt bad enough as it was, knowing that her obsessive compulsive, schedule driven father was probably driving her mother up a wall by now. Pulling her keys from the ignition, she turned to Michael one last time, and she could feel her own face twist into a small grimace.

"I missed you, too, but cease with the hippy crap... and wish me luck."

Michael didn't miss a beat, giving her a lopsided grin. "Luck, Coop. I'll see you tonight at the big engagement dinner." After a small pause, he shot her a wink. "And I'll keep Haley away from you as much as I can manage." Without another word, he slipped out of her car and closed the door, giving one final wave before he jogged across the lawn to his parents house next door. With one final exhale, she got out of the car herself and headed up the driveway and to the front door, adjusting the knocker to a slightly off center position before lifting it to officially announce her presence.

 _Well, here goes nothing._

* * *

 _ **AN: Well, here goes nothing! I had this idea kicking around in my head for a while and wanted to try it out. Lemme know what you think, if you have any suggestions, and how you think it started out! Thanks in advance for any reviews, comments, or critiques you may have!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Leonard Hofstadter sat casually at his desk in his office, typing away when he heard a shuffle at the door and looked up. He smiled at his son for a moment before ushering him in and returning his eyes to the the screen. They stayed there until he heard the words out of Michael's mouth, and he quickly looked up again, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Marie is home."

Leonard knew, of course, that his best friend's daughter was due home any day, her twin brother was getting married, after all, but hearing it sent an unexpected sense of dread straight to his stomach, and he saved his document before leaning back in his chair. If Sheldon and his daughter weren't already bickering, it was bound to start any minute, and just as he decided that he would head next door to try and cut some of the tension, his wife appeared in the doorway with a slight grimace and her phone in her hand.

"Hey, Penny, what's up?" The blonde didn't say a word in response, simply walked over and handed the phone to her husband, resting her hand on his shoulder as his eyes scanned the text message that had just come in from Amy. Even as he read it, another appeared asking Penny to come over. He nodded up at her, standing and stretching a bit before turning his attention back to his son.

"Will you be joining us?"

Michael just gave a smile and nodded, hands slipping into his pockets. "Of course. The rousing debates at the Fowler-Cooper house are some of my favorite free entertainment. Besides, Ree will want to leave sooner, rather than later."

Leonard watched as Penny shot their son a withering glare and rolled her eyes a little. "You know it's not supposed to be entertaining. You would think the two of them would get along better, they're so much alike."

Michael just snorted, causing Leonard's attention to be drawn back to his son with a lift of his brow. "You don't think so?"

"Oh, I definitely think so, but Ree would rather jump out of the old tree house than admit that she was anything like Uncle Sheldon."

Leonard only nodded at his son before grabbing his keys from the desk and slipping them in his pockets. "Well, come on then, before they manage to kill one another."

* * *

Michael realized as Amy ushered them into the house that they had gotten there just in time. He could heard the distinct voices of both Marie and Sheldon rising slightly from the kitchen, and he winced when he heard the subject matter that had come up. Of course, it was no great surprise. This was always the biggest source of their arguments. He quickly followed his mother, father, and Amy into the kitchen just in time to see Marie turning red around the ears, a sure sign that she was about to blow, despite the anxiety pill he had watched her pop in her car just before coming in earlier.

"You have a PhD in that's just wasting away! You aren't even attempting to use it!" Sheldon was saying as Michael walked over to rest a hand lightly on Marie's arm. She didn't seem to notice as she continued the argument, the one that he had heard so many times over the past three years.

"I also have a Master's degree in film theory and a bachelors in media journalism that I am using, but you never seem to remember that!"

Michael let out a small sigh, and heard his parents do the same. His mother had already poured herself a glass of wine and was quickly stepping in. He zoned out the conversation between his mother and Sheldon as he focused his attention on Marie. Her eyes were shining, and her nose was red, he knew that she was on the verge of tears, and he felt bad. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm in sympathy, feeling her stiffen under the contact for a moment before she relaxed when she realized who it was touching her. It had always been such a touchy subject with Sheldon that his daughter had found something outside of science that she loved, that she wasn't pursuing the field. When they were kids, he could remember Sheldon telling his father that one day, both of his children would have a Nobel to sit on the shelf next to his. Giving Marie a small squeeze, he nodded toward the door and gave her a little tug.

As they exited the kitchen and headed out the back door, a couple of the tears fell free and she quickly reached up to wipe them away. He knew her expression, growing up with her had taught him a lot. She was angry with herself for getting emotional. Marie had always prided herself on being above emotions, something that his mother had once told him was similar to her father before he'd met Amy. He led her to one of the benches outside, letting her sit down and kneeling in front of her with a small smile. "Hey Coop. Wanna talk it out?"

Marie just shook her head, frustrating Michael a bit. He just wanted to help out his friend, he loved her, knew she was hurting. But he also knew her well enough to know that she was going to bottle up her feelings. It was one of the reasons she took anxiety medication in the first place. He was about to sit next to her and let her sit in silence when she caught him completely off guard by actually sharing something, and he found his eyebrow lifting slightly.

"I'm never going to be good enough for him."

Michael wanted to protest, but she held up a hand to stop him, shaking her head a little. "Look at this whole thing from his prospective. He had two children, one who is currently a Theoretical Physicist specializing in quantum mechanics and dabbling in grand unification theory, the other who has a PhD in Mathematics but decided to go the opposite direction and get two liberal arts degrees and become a radio DJ. I'm a joke to him." She sighed a little, rolling her eyes, he thought at herself before she focused on him. "I'm a disappointment."

Michael shook his head, glaring at her a little for that statement. "No you're not. He just wanted you to follow in his footsteps and he's having a hard time with the fact that you left the field of study he understands to study and jumped into a field of study that he doesn't understand. I'm sure that if he listened to your radio show, he would realize that you use your PhD all the time in your film analysis. I especially liked the one about The Hunger Games and game theory."

Marie lifted an eyebrow, but managed a smile, making Michael smile in response. "You listen to my show?"

"I'm lucky your station offers the option on their website, but yes. I listen to your show all the time."

Marie leaned over to give him a light tap on the shoulder with her fist. "You're such a sappy loser, sometimes."

Michael just smiled a little wider and shrugged.

* * *

Charles Fowler-Cooper knew that something was wrong the second he walked into his parents house. He could hear the angry muttering from the kitchen and had noticed his sister's car out front when he'd pulled in. A small part of his had hoped that the bickering could have held off a bit, considering it was his wedding coming up, but he had known that was a long shot. Sighing softly, he made his way into the kitchen to see his parents and the Hofstadters there, his father looking annoyed. "I'm guessing I missed the big reunion."

He heard Penny let out a small snort as she tossed back the rest of the glass of wine in her hand and nodded a bit. "Michael and Marie are out back if you wanted to say hi to them. I was just trying to talk some sense into Dr. Wackodoodle over here." Charles watched as Penny threw back yet another glass of wine and let out a sigh, walking over to hug his mother and kiss her on the cheek before heading out the back door to see his sister.

When he found his sister and Michael sitting on one of the benches out back, he walked over, trying to smile a little, but he could feel that it was coming off as more of a grimace. "Hey Hof. Hey twin." The pair of them looked up and he noticed immediately how red his sister's eyes were. Without a thought, he sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling her stiffen under the affection for a moment before relaxing. "It's gonna be okay."

She just nodded a bit, her head leaning over to rest on his shoulder. "I'll try my best not to ruin your ridiculous wedding. Although, why you decided to get married in the first place-"

Rather than listen to his sister dive into a rant about how falling in love was stupid, he just squeezed her shoulders and used his free hand to pinch her arm, cutting her off mid-sentence and earning him a glare for his troubles. He always found it funny how he had been the more scientifically driven sibling, but also the more in tune emotionally. His sister had two liberal arts degrees, and yet refused to buy into any sort of emotional nonsense. It was fascinating, for sure, and he often wondered about it, but even his mother the neurobiologist could only explain it with 'she's your father's daughter' and leave it at that.

In order to cut a bit of the tension, he smiled a bit at his sister. "So, hey. I have a question for you. Or, well, Irina has a question for you, but said I should ask since you're my sister and all."

Marie lifted an eyebrow as she reached up to adjust her glasses on her nose. "Al-right?"

He waited for a moment, building suspense before he let out a laugh. "She wants you to be her Maid of Honor."

He thought she would be at least a little pleased, but noticed her face contort into one of horror, and all he could manage to think was 'Oh, great...'


End file.
